Saturday, May 27, 2017

Splitter showed up but Clippard did not…

Credit: Charles Wenzelberg

Friday night was very disappointing...

The disappointment certainly did not reside with Masahiro Tanaka who was able to put the horrific past couple of weeks in his rearview mirror, but it was the implosion of the bullpen. Tyler Clippard picked a very bad night to have a bad night and Jonathan Holder didn’t do anything to help.

Tanaka started the game with three strikeouts although he did give up a double to Oakland’s Jed Lowrie. It went a long way for me to show that Tanaka was not going to be a punching bag on this evening. Tanaka pitched into the eighth without allowing any runs, while striking out a season-high 13 batters. The only problem was that Sean Manaea, moved up a day in the rotation after Kendall Graveman was scratched, was just as good. The Yankees could not muster any offense against Manaea, who only permitted one extra base-hit, a double by Austin Romine in the third inning.

Credit: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With the game still deadlocked at 0-0 in eighth inning, Tanaka struck out Mark Canha and was then pulled by manager Joe Girardi after giving up a single to Adam Rosales. Using ‘ifs and buts’, if Aroldis Chapman had been healthy, the Yankees could have gone to Dellin Betances in that situation but Girardi had no choice but to go to interim setup reliever Tyler Clippard.

From there, the game fell apart. Rosales was safe at third following a throwing error by Clippard. The next batter, Rajai Davis, hit into a fielder’s choice, and Rosales was erased at home. Davis then stole second, but it didn’t matter because Clippard walked the next batter, Matt Joyce, a .194 hitter. Jed Lowrie, 3-for-4 on the night, promptly singled to score Davis. While I understand the rules for why the run was charged to Tanaka, this one was clearly on Clippard. The next batter, Khris Davis, reached first on an infield single to Gregorius, scoring Joyce. The Yankees challenged the call at first but lost. Things could have gotten worse from there as Clippard threw a wild pitch to advance the runners to second and third but Ryan Healy flied out to left to end the inning.

Jonathan Holder replaced Clippard in the top of the ninth inning and was greeted by a single (Trevor Plouffe) and a home run (Stephen Vogt) which put the A’s up 4-0. He stayed and got the next three outs, but by then the damage had been done.

The Yankees tried to muster a rally in the bottom of the ninth. They had the bases loaded with just one out for Didi Gregorius. Didi was unable to get the ball out of the park and the Yankees had to settle for a sac fly to put their first run on the board. With two outs and the game-tying run still at the plate, Girardi pinch-hit Gary Sanchez for Chase Headley. Unfortunately, Sanchez delivered the same result that Headley would have, a pop up in the infield to end the game.

Numerous disappointments with this night. Obviously, the bullpen. The Yankees need Aroldis Chapman back. Since he went on the DL, Betances is the only reliever to step up his game. The others have regressed from the added work. Chapman is scheduled to throw catch today if a visit to the doctor goes well so hopefully this is the start of his return. Matt Holliday was a no-show. He was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, leaving three runners on base. Chase Headley is bringing nothing to the table. He was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, and hasn’t been able to hit for a month as his batting average has fallen to .228.

I know the calls for Gleyber Torres will soon begin but I think it’s more likely the Yankees would swing a minor trade for a Major League third base replacement at this point. This is a direct reflection of how poorly the Yankees have drafted for third base. Miguel Andujar is the organization’s best third baseman and he’s further away than Torres who most likely will be the eventual starter for the Yankees. In 2011, the year they drafted Greg Bird, the Yankees first pick (51st selection) was Dante Bichette, Jr. Had Bichette been able to develop, he would have been ready for a job in the Bronx. As it is, the 24-year-old Bichette is batting .147/.213/.265 for AA-Trenton and is closer to a job outside of Baseball. I recognize that 2011 was not a strong year for third basemen in general, but with the 292nd pick, the Boston Red Sox chose Travis Shaw who is currently the starting third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers (9 HR, 34 RBI, .286 BA) . The Yankees chose a few more third basemen in the 2011 Draft. Matthew Duran was chosen with the 149th pick (Greg Bird wasn’t chosen until 30 picks later), Zach Wilson was picked 659th, and Connor Mach was the 1409th selection. All three players are out of baseball.

I think the Yankees are stuck with Headley for the duration of the year.

Credit: Elsa/Getty Images

The Yankees (27-18) maintained their 2 1/2 game advantage over the Baltimore Orioles, but lost ground with the AL East lead to two games as the hard-charging Boston Red Sox have moved up to second. Baltimore lost to the very strong Houston Astros, 2-0, while the Red Sox were beating the punchless Seattle Mariners, 3-0.

Here are the revised pitching match-ups for the remainder of the Oakland series with the scratch of Kendall Graveman yesterday:

SATURDAY

Athletics: Jharel Cotton (3-4, 5.68 ERA)

Yankees: CC Sabathia (4-2, 4.62 ERA)

SUNDAY

Athletics: Andrew Triggs (5-3, 2.77 ERA)

Yankees: Michael Pineda (5-2, 3.35 ERA)

I would have liked to have seen Sonny Gray this series given the trade rumors but Gray’s turn in the rotation doesn’t come up again until Tuesday in Cleveland.

Credit: Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees need to provide some offense today for Sabathia who, hopefully, continues his recent string of quality starts. This is a series that the Yankees should be winning so if they lose two of three or worse yet, get swept, this will be looked upon as a missed opportunity. Win the games you are supposed to win. Apparently, the Red Sox got the memo but the Yankees didn’t. Turn it around…today.